Make the FFXIV Client Downloadable

[Balbanes]

With all the work that Yoshi-P and his crew are putting into FFXIV, I'm kind of concerned about the lack of retail presence for the game.

It seems that fewer and fewer retailers are stocking FFXIV. When they get this game to they point they feel they can start charging, have they thought about how people are going to get the game in the first place?

Square-Enix needs to make this game downloadable. Charge the regular retail directly from the Lodestone, and start to get this game back in circulation when it's ready to be.

[Adol]

It would be nice to see them put up a downloadable version of the client at some point in the future.
It would also be good for people who need to do a fresh install but either have lost or damaged their disc. We have serial keys so I don't see why this should be a problem.

[Jynx]

I would imagine them launching a direct download of the client alongside the PS3 release.

[MyKotoShi]

Square-Enix needs to make this game downloadable. Charge the regular retail directly from the Lodestone, and start to get this game back in circulation when it's ready to be.

The key point is the fact that it can't be free to download yet. And I support the idea but FFXIV has contributed to a financial plummet to Square Enix's infrastructure. A great idea, as it reduces physical product development. So whether SE decides to not lower the price with the download option earns them more money for each individual purchase.

[Ilean]

Agree 200%.

Bandwidth is so cheap these days.

[Roughgalaxy]

this is clearly the way to go, physical copies of a game cost big money to press and distribute where as digital distribution is effectively free save for data charges and a mix between static client download and p2p can heavily negate that cost.

[Blitz0309]

Why not just have steam get a hold of it?

Though saying "we're looking into it" doesn't really count as work.

[Eekiki]

Absolutely agree. Also agree with making the game available on Steam.

Especially since Steam now offers support for F2P games. Might as well give away the game client for free since no one's buying it.

MIND YOU, I am not suggesting FFXIV go F2P permanently. I'm saying that for the moment the game is technically F2P, and will be for the foreseeable future. Might as well treat it as such.

[syntaxlies]

i dont think SE wants allot of people to buy the game right now. We are essentially long term beta testers. The more people that pay good money for this game in its current state mean more disappointed FF fans. I believe that after they have it to a standard were they can charge people there will be a big marketing push. So will most likely go along with the ps3 launch. Having the ps3 launch will force reviews to re-review the game hopefully scoring higher then the 3/10-4/10 that it scores now no matter what source you looks at. Thats my opinion and if i was a savvy business person that's what i would do, but im not so who knows.

[Eekiki]

i dont think SE wants allot of people to buy the game right now.

Wait, what? SE doesn't want people to give them money?

Even following what you're saying, you have to consider this. If SE, today, were to start charging a monthly subscription fee, there would be some people that would pay it and continue playing. Yes, it's safe to say a lot (probably most) would not, but there are some people that are willing to pay for this on a regular basis.

Logic would then dictate that more people playing would mean more subscriptions. Any way you look at it, it's in SE's best interest to distribute the game as much as possible.